Temporary Layoffs at Marine Harvest Port Hardy Processing Plant

The temporary closure of the plant will last for seven weeks beginning 30 September, 2013.

Company plans call for layoffs to end and operations to resume as of 25 November,2013.

"Marine Harvest Canada announced in 2011 that we would reduce the number of fish put to sea in response to sharply dropping global salmon prices. The decision taken then means that there are fewer salmon to process," said Vincent Erenst, Managing Director for Marine Harvest Canada.

"However, smolt placements this year have returned to 2010 levels so full processing plant operations will resume in the near future. Marine Harvest Canada’s voluntary response to the 2011 global price depression was the right thing to do to ensure a strong position for the company during a difficult economic period."

"Our plan is for a short, seven week layoff of the Port Hardy processing plant staff with operations to resume in December 2013," says Dave Pashley, Processing Director of Marine Harvest Canada.

"Our forward looking plan sees our production returning to normal volumes by September 2014," he added.